This application relates to the field of sport fishing equipment, specifically to fishing lures having replaceable decorative and fish attracting skirts or shrouds to provide a wide selection of lures with a minimum of parts.
Fishing lures of many different appearances, and having removable and replaceable skirts or shrouds are well known. The skirts are available in a wide variety of colors and reflectivity such as to stimulate the bait fish in the area being fished and therefore to attract the desired game fish.
Applicant has found that during a fishing excursion extending several miles into the ocean, it is often desired to change the colors of the lures several times because of different lighting conditions (cloudy or bright), different feeding patterns, or because of fishing for different varieties and sizes of fish. The lures which are generally available do not permit convenient changes of the colored streamers or skirts and applicant has found it desirable to carry as many as 15-20 separate lures to deal with the conditions encountered in fishing tropical ocean waters. Such lures tend to be of significant size and weight and carrying such a large number has proven to be somewhat burdensome. Also, the task of changing lures is somewhat time consuming.
Through the past decades, a number of patents have been granted showing various method of attaching skirts or streamers to fishing lures. One method of mounting skirts or streamers to fishing lures is through the use of tying, wiring, taping or adhesively mounting the skirt directly to the head assembly as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,612,264 to Cressey, U.S. Pat. No. 1,688,110 to Bogart and U.S. Pat. No. 2,185,668 to Hurdle. In these designs, the skirt or streamer is not truly a replaceable structure and in order to change colors, the entire lure must be changed. Some improvements on this mounting method can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,359,674 to Strumor, U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,781 to Wolfe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,067 to West, U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,768 to Sorace, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,089 to Schriefer, all of which require the use of a carrier assembly onto which the streamer is permanently mounted. Although the mounting of the skirt on a carrier allows the colors to be more easily changed, these designs all necessitate the removal of the hook assembly from the main line in order to effect a color change.
Another type of structure shown in the literature makes use of conical bores and mating conical plugs as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,914,895 and 4,033,063, both to Mize. These designs rely on the pressure exerted by the towing vessel to keep the skirt assembly in place. These devices also require that the leader be detached from the hook in order to effect a color change.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,237,534 to Van Der Clute shows a skirt made of a tubular shaped member or collar having resilient streamer elements which are then attached to the head using a series of spring fingers to hold the collar member in place. It requires that this collar be permanently attached to the streamer assembly in order to retain a positive locking arrangement with the head assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,625,767 to Pokras discloses a fishing lure which, when two halves of the head assembly are joined, has an axial bore through the center of the body. The tail section shows an axial bore through a carrier assembly onto which feathers or streamers are permanently bonded using adhesives. The tail assembly is then snapped into the head assembly locking it in place. This lock is maintained via the resiliency of the split sleeve. The method of changing the skirt requires that a force be applied to the sleeve at angles perpendicular to the assembly which then compresses the split sleeve. The force applied to this sleeve is done in the same manner of a fish closing its mouth on bait which could then cause the sleeve to loosen or fall off.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,889 to Scott shows a system in which a skirt or streamer is wrapped around the lure body and uses a sliding clamp arrangement to secure the streamer in place. The clamp is described as being of a resilient material such as a thermoplastic and relies on a frictional three to hold the streamer in place. This frictional force is applied in an area wherein it, in combination with the forces applied as a result of it movement through the water, could cause the streamer to weaken and tear. It is required that a transverse bead be molded into the streamer to secure it in a circumferential groove under the clamp.
Consideration of the disclosures of the above patents reveals that none show a really satisfactory and reliable arrangement for the removal and replacement of the skirts or streamers used in this class of lures. There is therefore a need for a lure design which permits the convenient and quick replacement of the skirts or streamers.